Press and daily Dakotaian. (Yankton, Dakota Territory [S.D.]) 1880-1889, 1887-07-12
DEATH OF BEN. HALLIDAY.
A WELL-kNoWN WESTERN CHAR
AFTER GIVES UP THE GHOST.

His a Remarkable Career--A Typical
Forty-Niner-His First Overland Trip
Growth of His Worldly Goods Like
Magic-Big and Fabulous Profts-Sale
of the Overland Company.
PORTLAND, Ore, July 11.-Ben Halli-
day, n of the best known characters in
the western country, died at st. Vincent's
hospitaI in this city. The Immediate
cause of his death was paralysis, from
which he had been suffering for some
time. He had been Unconscious for sew
eral days, and up to his last moments
was unable to recognize his wife and
children.
The career of Ben Halliday was that Of
g remarkable man. He was q native OF
Kentucky, and was probably So years of
age. He moved from his native state
when is years of age and located in Mis-
souri, In 1S49 or 80. he settled at West
on, and for several years was engaged in
the drug business. He finally abandoned
that prosy pursuit for a more exciting
life still further OF the frontier, and in
1862 made his first overland trip to Salt
Lake City in charge of a train of goods.
He found no market in Salt Lake, and
moved with the train on to California,
where the value of his goods grew as if
by magic. His venture was far more
profitable than he had anticipated, even
in his widest dreams, and the result was
the foundation of a fortune. Becoming
interested in San Francisco property, he
soon grew wealthy and influential, and
finally scared a contract to supply the
Pacific Mail company with fresh beef.
This brought him 6n income of from
SS,0uD TO $1,000 per month, and was fol-
lowed by other contracts even more prof
table, in which the government and yari-
Gus overland companies contributed to
his increasing fortune.
He eventually became interested with
w. II. Russell, a weI-known Missourian,
In several government contracts and
cleared fabulous sums of money. But
Halliday, who was on the western end of
the continent and manipulated the vari-
Gus deals, managed to capture most of
the profits, while Russell and his CO.
partners In Missouri and the east furn-
ished the pricipal portion of the capital,
The firm of Russell, Majors g. Waddeu,
of st. Louis, finally failed at the opening
of the war, and Halliday generously kept
everything which the firm owned west Of
the Missouri.
A reorganization was finally effected
and the firm of Russell, Jones Sc Cart
wright and Alexander Mayors became
sole of the Pixies Peak express
company from Atchison and Leavenworth
to Denver. The government being be-
hind in pay to the company, Russell, a
democrat, demanded it prudent to make
Halliday president OF @5he Overland COM
pany. Halliday accepted, and advanced
$50, 600 or $4,000 to fit up the line, and
took a chattel mortgage on the whole
concern. This wa made payable at some
obscure town in Kansas, and Halliday
soon captured the line which had pre-
yiously been inyoioed at about 500, 900.
He afterward sold. 1t to the Wells-Fargo
express company for SO, 000, 900 cash.
Halliday's first wife and four children
by her are all dead. The wife was an es-
Unable woman charming IN appearance
and character. Their two daughters.
Polite and Jennie, each married O French
court with more title than anything else.
Both were beautiful women but both
had been sought and weddad for their
wealth and their married lives proved I'M
happy. Jennie, the eldest died on a Pull
man car on her way east from California.
The doctors said it was heart-disease.
The other died ut a New York hotel. The
two boys, Joseph and Benjamin, who
were known in st. Louis, among the
young bloods of their day, died while
they were yet young men. All the chill
dren were buried on the Ophir farm, In
Weschester county, N. Y, beside their
mother, in a private chapel which she
had built. Ophir farm embraces about
1000 acres, which is finely improved aft
er the French chateau style, and lii her
will the mother left it to her daughters
with the stipulation that at their death it
should not 60, to their French husbands.
This provision wa the cause of long liti-
CATION, the Frenchmen making strenuous
efforts to seeureits possession. 1t finally
passed into possession of John Roach, the
chin. hnildnr - IS